Reference

Step by Step
New Yorkers definitely walk the walk. When www.walkscore.com ranked 50 American cities on walkability, the city received the highest rating. San Francisco and Boston placed second and third respectively. No surprise there, given those cities’ impressive densities and layouts. And the “least walkable” cities on the list? Jeff Speck’s client, Oklahoma City, plodded in at 48th; Charlotte, North Carolina, was 49th; and the winner of the rather ignominious booby prize was Jacksonville, Florida (www.thatsfit.com/2011/07/25/americas-most-and-least-walkable-cities/).

Hail to the Chiefs
James K. Polk won the 1844 presidential election with the slogan, “Reannexation of Texas and Reoccupation of Oregon.” In contrast, his opponent, Henry Clay, had a ludicrously vague slogan: “Who is James K. Polk?” While this says nothing about who Clay is, it also says nothing about Polk (www.ushistoryscene.com/uncategorized/who-is-james-k-polk/). Forty years later, President Grover Cleveland won with, “Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, The Continental Liar from the state of Maine” (www.presidentsusa.net/1884slogan.html). While today’s candidates have continued our long tradition of mudslinging, they show more self-restraint when it comes to their official slogans.

A Culture of Caring
The early days of American hospitals are a bit sketchy. In the 1700s, they were a way to confine the sick. If your relative was mentally ill, you’d have to build your own house to contain them. The psychologically impaired without families were often sold at auction. When the Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, first opened in 1736, it housed the “poor, aged, insane, and disreputable.” Hospitals were often the quarantine of last resort, serving as both infirmary and almshouse (http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763755935/49745_Ch03.pdf). While our facilities might not include guest waiting rooms for each patient, like the Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi, they’re certainly better than hospitals past.